Virginia SOL 3.RI.2

3.RI.2 is a Standards of Learning standard. These are the knowledge and skills expectations under it.

• 3.RI.2.A

  Describe major structural differences between the organizational patterns of different informational texts (e.g., cause/effect, comparison/contrast, problem/sol...

• 3.RI.2.B

  Use text features and search tools (e.g., sidebars, hyperlink) to locate and gain information efficiently.

• 3.RI.2.C

  Identify the author’s purpose for writing, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students compare how informational texts arrange ideas, such as by time, causes, differences, or solutions. They explain how that arrangement helps readers, use page and digital features to locate facts, and identify what the author wants readers to learn.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students correctly name a text’s pattern and cite details or signal words as proof. They explain how the pattern connects ideas and helps readers follow the information. They use text features to find facts quickly and clearly state the author’s purpose.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may confuse the topic with the author’s purpose or choose a pattern based on one signal word. They may treat any list of events as chronological order or mistake related facts for cause and effect. They may skip captions, sidebars, menus, and links when searching for information.

04

How to Assess It

Give students a one-page article with a heading, sidebar, and link. Ask: “How is this article organized, how does that organization help, where would you find one specific fact, and what is the author trying to do?”

1. 01

   Give groups mixed paragraph cards from a short article to arrange, then label the pattern and underline clues that guided their choices.

2. 02

   Read two texts about storms and ask, “How does each author organize the information, and which pattern makes the topic clearer?”

3. 03

   Play Structure Sort by having pairs match short passages with pattern cards, then earn a point for explaining one text clue.

4. 04

   Use a zoo or museum webpage to locate a fact through headings, menus, sidebars, and links, then identify the page’s purpose.

• 2.RI.2

  The 2nd Grade version of this standard.

• 10.RI.2

  The 10th Grade version of this standard.

• 5.RI.2

  The 5th Grade version of this standard.

• 1.RI.2

  The 1st Grade version of this standard.